Expanded rehabilitation center offers more services

Sunday

Aug 29, 2010 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2010 at 6:46 PM

An approximately 2,000-square-foot expansion into a former children’s clothing store has allowed the Carter Rehabilitation and Aquatics Center location in Adrian to increase the services it can offer in several key areas.

Arlene Bachanov

An approximately 2,000-square-foot expansion into a former children’s clothing store has allowed the Carter Rehabilitation and Aquatics Center location in Adrian to increase the services it can offer in several key areas.

The center, at 1525 W. Maumee St., unveiled its new facilities earlier this month. With the additional space, it has been able to significantly expand services, including its community fitness, occupational therapy, chronic pain support group and wellness programs.

Carter Rehabilitation has operated in Adrian — it also has a satellite clinic in Tecumseh — for 12 years now, 6 1⁄2 years at its current location, and had just grown to the point where “we needed more space,” said Aaron DeLine, the center’s director for seven of those years. Along with the expansion, the center has both increased its hours and added staff in the form of a new physical therapist and a new physical therapy assistant.

One thing the new facilities have allowed is for the center to better work with women suffering from pelvic pain and both men and women with incontinence.

“We were able to provide a more private treatment area,” said DeLine.
At the center, treating patients for incontinence focuses on using biofeedback to combat what’s known as “disuse atrophy.” Physical therapist Cleon Grooms uses a machine that “reads” the pelvic muscles and displays an image when they contract.

“By (the patients) seeing what happens when they contract the muscles, they can learn to exercise those muscles themselves,” DeLine said.

Occupational therapy is another area that benefited from the center’s expansion. The center treats patients for a variety of problems, including carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and other issues, but it also works with the patient’s employer on what’s called “work reconditioning” and “functional capacity evaluations,” to help assess what an employee can go back to doing and how. The center’s occupational therapist, Debbie Phillips, will also go out to work sites and evaluate them. “One company had us come in and write job descriptions for their staff,” said DeLine.

As its full name indicates, the center also offers aquatics therapy. Patients use the therapeutic pool to work one-on-one with a therapist to rehabilitate in a variety of situations, such as after knee or back surgery. The buoyancy helps ease stress on the joint, and keeping the water temperature at 93 degrees, which is warmer than a traditional swimming pool, not only helps keep muscles looser but also helps patients with arthritis.

Patients who need physical therapy services come via a physician’s referral and prescription. But the center also offers programs for the wider community. One such program is a chronic pain support group, which meets monthly and is, DeLine said, an opportunity for chronic pain sufferers to both get encouragement and support from others with the same problem and to learn about their condition and how to manage it.

Another is the fitness program, which is open to anyone and costs $27 per month, with 6-month and yearly memberships available. “We want to offer a fitness program where everyone feels comfortable working out,” DeLine said.

In all, he said, the center wants to “provide multiple services for the wellness of our community. We want to provide top-quality care and the services people need.”

The clinic is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for patient care, with the fitness program open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, call 265-6007 or go online at www.carterrehabcenter.com.

Lenawee in Business is a feature of The Daily Telegram business page for new businesses and businesses celebrating a major anniversary. If you have a story for a Lenawee in Business, call assistant news editor Sue Van Fleet at 265-5111, ext. 259, or e-mail sue@lenconnect.com.